Questions and Answers
by suburbs
Summary: Macy finds her interview cards with all of Kevin's answers. Tag to JONAS episode "Keeping it Real". Kevin/Macy.
1. It's Written in the Cards

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS, eBay, Pepsi or Coke._

_A/N: I finally saw Episode Four, and this story is sort of a tag to that episode. I think it will make sense even if you haven't seen it yet. I am planning on having this be a few chapters. _

_Dedication: To faerietaleredux because she asked if I had started it yet. And I was just about to give up and do housework instead. So I have no clean clothes to wear tomorrow, but the story is done. Hope you like it._

As the Lucas family and Stella prepared to leave the thrift store, Stella glanced over at her best friend. "Hey, Mace? You will give your mom the stuff they donated, right? It's not going up on eBay or something?"

Macy looked offended that Stella would even suggest such a thing. "I may be a fan, Stell, but I wouldn't do that. I'll leave the bags for my mom to sort just like any other donation."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "Oh, alright," Macy whispered. "One or two items may mysteriously end up in my bedroom, but most of it will be right here in the store." She paused for a moment before looking concerned. "Do you think they know that people would pay a lot of money for their stuff? Maybe they should donate it to a special charity or something to auction it off."

Nick overheard her last comment and smiled, "We're going for normal here, so do you think you could just act like the bags are just another donation from some normal, everyday family off the street?"

Macy nodded, trying to concentrate on breathing so she could remain conscious through the rest of their visit.

At that moment Kevin called to his brothers, "It looks like the coast is clear. We should probably make a run for it."

Macy stood in the doorway waving as the Lucas family drove away. Sighing, she headed back inside to close up for the night. She started by picking up all the empty cups and discarded spoons left behind by the fans before finally heading over to the cash register to count the money. She finally finished all her official duties and was ready to head home. As she reached for her purse, she noticed her question cards lying on the counter. She couldn't believe she had had the perfect chance to interview Kevin Lucas of JONAS and she fainted before she heard the answer to even one question.

She picked up the cards and went to toss them in the trash can when she noticed that there was writing on the top card. She had written, "What is your favorite funny animal?", but under her own question in messy scrawl was "bear in a bikini". She laughed. That was so Kevin! And under his answer he had written, "What's your favorite animal Macy?"

She flipped through the cards and found that he had written his answer and a question for her on every one of the cards. Some of them were funny and others more serious. His note on the last card caught her off guard because it was more of a statement and it didn't relate to her question at all.

"Joe likes plaid pajamas. Nick's are stripes. Mine are the bunnies."

She glanced over at the bags the three boys had brought in and wondered if she would find three pairs of pajamas matching his descriptions. Normally she would wait for her mom to go through donations, but it was almost like he was giving her permission. Peering into the bags, she did indeed find three pairs of flannel pajamas – one that was red plaid, one that was green with white stripes, and one that was pale blue with little white bunnies all over. With a smile on her face, she scooped up the pajamas and the note cards and headed out the door.

Later that night Macy sat on her bed, cozy in her new bunny pajamas, reading Kevin's answers through for the third time.

"Would you ever kiss a girl on the first date?"

Kevin had written, "Does the cheek count?"

Then under it, he had asked her what her perfect date would be. She knew he probably just wrote the questions because he was trapped and bored, but she decided that since he was nice enough to answer her questions, she would do the same. And in a normal, non-super fan way. After considering for a moment, she wrote, "A Yankees game (where JONAS sang the national anthem)." Sports, JONAS, and hopefully a cute guy who liked her. She couldn't imagine anything better.

She flipped back to the animal question and quickly wrote in "otters" before moving on to the next card. She had asked him about his favorite food (his mom's fried chicken), and he had asked "Pepsi or Coke?"

She laughed and wrote, "Neither. Root beer or a mocha."

Next she had asked "What do you like best about going to school at Horace Mantis?" He had written that he got to be a regular guy at school, which made Macy wince. For the most part everyone managed to just ignore the fact that the guys were famous; everyone but her. His question only added to her guilt. "Do you think you could ever think of me as Kevin of school instead of Kevin of JONAS?"

She wrinkled her nose, deep in thought. Would it ever be possible for her to look at him and not see a member of her favorite band? She ran a website devoted to him, for goodness sakes. Is that something you just got over? And honestly, had she even tried yet? She had pretty much just focused on how dreamy it was to be in the same place as a member of JONAS, and look where that had gotten her. She couldn't even stay conscious long enough to enjoy it.

Biting her lip, she wrote, "I don't know. But I'm going to try."

Yawning, she put the cards and her pen on her nightstand and turned off the light.

The next morning, she grabbed Stella before school started.

"Hey, Stella, would you give this to Kevin for me?" She asked, holding out a stack of jumbo index cards wrapped in a red bow.

Stella reached out for the gift and looked confused. "What is it?"

"Nothing weird, I promise," Macy said quickly. "It's just something he left at the store last night."

"Why don't you just give it to him then?" her friend asked.

Macy blushed. "I'm still having problems remembering to breathe around him, and I really need to make it to first period."

"Okay. I'll drop it by his locker on the way to English," Stella replied.

"Thanks," Macy said gratefully.

Stella turned and headed down the stairs to the lockers, but stopped suddenly. "Hey, Macy. I was thinking last night that your mom's store might get a bunch of fan girls stopping in because of yesterday. Do you want me to come help after school in case there's a rush?"

Macy smiled gratefully. "That would be great. I know Mom would appreciate it."

Stella nodded and continued down the stairs. Macy watched as Stella approached Kevin at his locker and handed him the note cards. He looked puzzled at first until he finally noticed that Macy had answered all his questions. His face broke out in a wide grin when he read what she had written under his description of their pajamas.

"I liked the bunnies best."

He looked up and noticed her standing on the stairs. Macy could feel herself getting light-headed as he smiled at her and waved. She focused on taking a deep breath before waving back.

He smiled and waved at her, and she didn't faint.

It wasn't much, but it was a start.


	2. Breathing Lessons

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS or P,B&J Otter._

_A/N: So here is the next chapter. I apologize because it isn't very good. Hopefully the next one will be better (and funnier). I am trying to have the relationship progress at a realistic rate, so this is sort of a baby step forward. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed!_

Macy wanted to be able to remain conscious around the Lucas boys; she really did. Fainting in the hallways was embarrassing; plus her best friend was friends with them, and if she wanted to hang out with Stella she needed to be able to control herself. And then there was Kevin. She thought it would be nice to get know Kevin as more than a note card pen pal. He seemed to be really sweet and funny (although not necessarily always on purpose). And he looked so cute when he waved at her. She smiled dreamily as she remembered him standing in the hallway looking up at her. With those eyes. And those curls. And…

Bang.

All of a sudden Macy found herself sprawled on the floor outside the cafeteria, her forehead throbbing.

"Are you okay?" Macy heard a concerned voice say. "That looked like it hurt."

Macy rubbed her head without looking up at the person speaking to her, "What happened?"

"You walked right into that pole."

Macy groaned and rested her head on her knees. She couldn't even think about Kevin without making a fool of herself. How on earth was she supposed to act normal around him? She could sense someone sit down on the floor next to her and place a hand on her shoulder.

"Seriously, Macy, are you okay? Do you want me to go get the nurse?"

At the sound of her name, Macy looked up at her would-be rescuer to find herself staring right into the brown eyes of Kevin Lucas. Her mind started to race. Kevin of JONAS was touching her shoulder. Kevin of JONAS was touching her shoulder. The world around her began to blur. But before she blacked out, she caught herself.

"Breathe, Macy. Just remember to breathe," she thought to herself, repeating it like her own personal mantra. Everything began to come back into focus, and she saw Kevin's worried face in front of her.

She took one more deep breath before answering. "I'm okay. I was thinking about something and just didn't notice the pole."

"Wow," Kevin replied. "It must have been something really interesting. That pole's pretty hard to miss."

"You have no idea," Macy muttered before smiling at Kevin. "Thanks for offering to help."

"No problem," he said cheerfully. He glanced around the empty hallway before adding, "Do you think you can get up? Lunch is almost over, and I think we might get trampled if we stay here."

Looking around to make sure she still had all her belongings, she nodded and started to stand up. Once upright, she winced. Her head really hurt.

"You might want to go to the nurse," Kevin said. He reached out and lifted her bangs to look at her injury, his fingertips brushing her skin. Macy's mind went completely blank. She was vaguely aware that he was still talking, but she couldn't process what he was saying at all. Blinking, she tried to concentrate on listening.

"Uhm, what did you say?" Macy finally got out.

"You've got a big bump there, and you look really pale. I think you should go see the nurse."

"Oh, okay," Macy said, still in a daze.

When she didn't move, Kevin reached over and gently took her by the elbow. "How about I help you get there?"

She nodded and began to walk along next to him. The silence was awkward, but she figured it would be better to concentrate on walking and breathing instead of trying to come up with something to say.

"Thanks for the note cards," Kevin finally blurted out.

"What?" Macy asked. "Oh, the note cards. You're welcome. Thanks for answering my questions."

Kevin pursed his lips together like he was thinking about something before saying, "So, uhm, what do you like about otters?"

The question caught Macy off guard. She hadn't expected him to remember anything she had written. "I used to watch this cartoon with my little cousin about these three otters…"

"Peanut, Butter and Jelly!" Kevin exclaimed.

Macy grinned. "Exactly! And so I got him this book about otters, and we went to the zoo to watch real otters." She shrugged, "So now I like otters."

"Cool," Kevin said. "Well, here we are. You better go check with the nurse to make sure you're okay. See you later."

Macy was surprised to find herself standing in front of the nurses office. As Kevin turned to walk away, she realized that she had just had her first non-JONAS conversation with him. And she had only almost fainted twice. That was definite progress. Grinning, she called out, "Hey!"

Kevin turned and looked at her. She took a deep breath before calling, "Thank you for the help, Kevin of School."

She turned and pushed open the door to the office before he could respond because she was already feeling a little light-headed from the collision with the pole, and she knew one of his smiles would put her over the edge.


	3. Cup of Comfort

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS, the Beatles or Fruit Loops._

_A/N: First, a special thank you to __faerietaleredux for being a fantastic beta (I dedicated a story to you and then made you work on it, sorry about that). I really appreciated the feedback. Second, I apologize for the lameness of my math references – I'm a little rusty. Hopefully you can just roll with me there. And third, I am trying to show the gradual development of their friendship; this is a slightly larger step than last chapter. In the next one, Macy will get to be there for Kevin._

Macy sat on a bench hunched over with her elbows resting on her knees and her face in her hands. She was miserable. She was almost positive that she had just failed her math midterm, which is something that had never happened to her before. She had never loved math, but up until this year she had had a solid grasp of what was happening. But the sine, cosine and tangent formulas just seemed to swim in front of her eyes mocking her, and nothing she did made much of a difference. She was a good student who always got good grades; she wasn't prepared to deal with failure. And if she had failed as spectacularly as she suspected she might have, her athletic eligibility would be at stake.

What would she do if she couldn't play sports?

She sniffed a little as she felt her eyes prickle with tears.

"Mocha?"

Macy looked up to find Kevin Lucas standing in front of her holding out a white paper coffee cup. She reached for the cup, "Thanks."

Kevin plopped down on the bench beside her, sipping from his own cup. After taking a drink, she finally asked, "Why did you bring me coffee?"

On any other day, the idea of a member of JONAS bringing her coffee would have sent her into internal fan-girl frenzy. She was better at containing her excitement now after spending a little more time with the guys, but she still had to remind herself to breathe when they smiled at her. Or talked to her. Or accidentally touched her. But right now all her focus was on being miserable, so his presence was barely registering.

"Stella said something about you being upset because of a test," Kevin answered.

"I just don't get trig." Macy stated with a catch in her voice. "I've tried, but it doesn't make sense to me. And if I fail the class, the school won't let me play sports."

"That's what Stella told me. I have nothing helpful to say to help make it better," Kevin replied simply, "which is why I went with chocolate. My mom says that chocolate fixes most things. Although I prefer Beatles music, Fruit Loops and cartoons."

Macy had planned on spending the afternoon wallowing in despair, but she laughed despite herself. "How do you listen to the Beatles and watch cartoons at the same time?"

"Closed captioning," Kevin said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course, what was I thinking?"

"You should have known that, but I'll let it go this time because you're sad," Kevin said jokingly.

"Thanks."

They both sat on the bench in silence sipping their coffee. Macy looked down at the ground and noticed Kevin's brown leather shoes. She remembered when Stella found those shoes; Stella had been so excited because they were the perfect touch for an outfit for some photo shoot. Some of those photos were currently up on Macy's JONAS fan club website. She blinked. Kevin of JONAS wore those very shoes on the cover of _Rock Star_ magazine. If she reached out, she could touch them. Macy felt her eyes glaze over a bit and her breath start to come in short quick bursts.

"Macy, are you okay?" She heard Kevin ask. She closed her eyes and shook her head before taking a deep breath to steady herself.

"I'm fine," she answered shakily. She hated that she still went into fan girl mode. She could be in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation with Kevin, and some small comment or gesture would trigger it.

Kevin looked at her nervously. "How come you blank out sometimes? You get really pale and it's like you go somewhere else."

Macy blushed and thought about how best to explain it. "You know how breathing is supposed to be involuntary? Something our body does without us thinking about it?

Kevin nodded.

"Yeah, well sometimes when I'm around you and your brothers, my body just forgets."

"To breathe?" Kevin asked incredulously.

Macy nodded. "So when I get spacey, I'm reminding myself to keep breathing. Otherwise I'll faint or hyperventilate. I'm trying to cut back on that."

Kevin looked slightly freaked by her admission, but he didn't run. He just swallowed before saying, "Breathing is good."

Macy shrugged, "I like it."

Kevin smiled at her attempt at humor.

"So why the coffee?" Macy said holding up her cup.

Kevin wrinkled his nose in confusion. "Didn't I already answer that? Do I make you forget other things too? Cause that would be weird, but sort of cool. Like I had magical powers."

Macy giggled at the thought of a magical Kevin wiping fan girls' memories. "No, I remember what you said. You brought me coffee to try and make me feel better, I get that. But why? Why not let Stella do it?"

This time it was Kevin who blushed, but Macy was staring at her coffee cup and missed it. "You'll laugh."

Macy's eyes flew up to his face. "Seriously? I just told you I forget to breathe around you, and you're afraid I'm going to laugh at you?"

"Good point," Kevin said. He hesitated a moment before speaking again. "We've all known Stella for a long time, but she's really Joe's friend. So I thought maybe you could be my Stella." He paused for a moment before adding, "Well, maybe like my Stella but less bossy and without the scolding."

Macy's eyes went wide. Did he just say he wanted her to be his girl friend? She knew he didn't mean girlfriend, which was different from girl friend, but still. She had always been a little jealous of Stella's relationship with Joe (not because he was a member of JONAS but because they just got each other), so any guy telling her he wanted her to be his Stella would have turned her to mush. But it wasn't just any guy. It was Kevin. Aware that this was definitely swoon-worthy information, she began to automatically take deep breathes. And then something occurred to her. "Why me? There are lots of girls here at school who aren't as," she paused to think of the right word, "weird as I am. Who don't faint when you smile at them."

"Stella told us about you, and from what you wrote on those cards I think we have stuff in common. Plus, you were awesome when all those fans showed up at your mom's," Kevin explained.

"I was unconscious most of the time," Macy pointed out.

"Only after. But when you thought we were in danger, you jumped right in."

"I guess," Macy said, sounding unconvinced. "I still think there are easier people to be friends with."

"I don't mind a challenge," Kevin replied. He gestured towards Macy as he added, "You'd better finish your mocha before it gets cold."

Once again, they found themselves sitting in silence. Macy though about what Kevin had said about her, and she felt a warm feeling spread through her chest.

"So I can't be bossy?" Macy finally asked.

"Nope."

"Or scold you?"

"Exactly."

"Do I get to pick out your clothes?" Macy asked, excited at the idea of helping with JONAS' wardrobe.

"Not a chance."

"So what do I get to do as Kevin's Stella?"

"Be my friend," Kevin replied simply, smiling at her. "And we'll help each other out."

Macy felt her chest constrict and her stomach do funny flips as he looked at her. She gulped before saying. "I can do that."

He threw his arm around her shoulder in a one-armed hugged. "Awesome." She froze, totally unprepared to be almost hugged by a Lucas. "Just breathe Mace," she heard him say.

She laughed, realizing that somehow her math grade didn't seem as disastrous as it had only a few minutes before thanks to Kevin and a cup of coffee.


	4. Paper Bag Princess

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS, Fruit Loop, Fandango, or the Robert Munsch book I stole the chapter title from._

_A/N: I apparently have no self-control because I am posting again within twelve hours of putting up the last chapter; I hope this chapter is okay because I obviously wrote it very quickly. I told my untold fairy-tale I would let her know when the chapter based on a Sara Bareilles song came up. So here it is – and the connection is very loose. Also, a quick note- I totally appreciate that no one is comparing fictional Kevin to real Kevin because I am trying to base him only on the TV character. So none of the comments, favorites or musical preferences in the story are based on the actor also known as Kevin. _

As Macy came down the stairway, she saw a pretty red-headed senior glare at Kevin and stomp off in the other direction. She was fairly certain that was the same girl that Kevin had asked out last week. Macy frowned as she watched him sigh and sink down onto the bottom step.

"What's wrong with Payton?" Macy asked as she sat down next to Kevin. She had never liked the older girl, but Kevin had been so excited about her that Macy had tried to be supportive. She had even helped him plan their dates, which apparently hadn't gone as well as Kevin had thought if Payton's dramatic exit had been an indicator.

"She's mad at me," Kevin replied evenly, "because I haven't written her a song yet."

Macy's nose wrinkled in confusion. "But you've only had two dates. Nobody but crazy people and Nick write someone a song after two dates."

Kevin smiled a little at the mention of his romantically-challenged younger brother. "Yeah, well, since Penny got a song, we're all supposed to be churning out ballads after the first date. She said something about wanting to be my muse."

"That's ridiculous," Macy scoffed. "Plus, she obviously doesn't know anything about you because anyone with access to _Teen Weekly_ knows that you don't like to write songs by yourself. You prefer a collaborative process."

Macy was outraged that any girl would demand a love song; Payton was obviously using Kevin, which made Macy furious. He was too nice to be treated like that. But, Macy could admit that it would be so awesome to have a JONAS song written for her. She could picture them on stage, singing right to her. She wondered if Joe or Nick would sing lead. Just as Macy felt her mouth get dry and her head get woozy, Kevin reached into his messenger bag and handed her a brown paper bag.

"Breath," he stated simply. He had taken to carrying the bags around with him in case she started to hyperventilate. Apparently he had seen someone do that in a movie and thought it might be helpful. She had tried breathing into the bags the first couple of times he offered one to her, but now, the bag was really more of a symbol or password, Kevin's way of snapping her out of a fan girl moment.

"I'm good." Macy insisted. Kevin looked skeptical but put didn't press the issue. Macy looked down at the bag in her hand, turning it over thoughtfully.

"You know what? I don't think I need these anymore." Kevin shot her a look that indicated he believed she was clearly delusional. "No really. I haven't accidentally injured you in weeks, and I this was my first fan girl moment since you showed me your favorite guitar last Thursday. I really think I'm getting better."

"You forgot Monday when Joe told you your hair looked nice," Kevin pointed out.

Macy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Still, I think we've moved past the bags, don't you?"

"You have gotten better," Kevin admitted, smiling down at her, making her heart race a little faster. All of a sudden a cloud pasted over his face. "What am I going to do with all those bags? I ordered an entire case?"

Macy giggled, "You guys could pack a lunch."

Kevin frowned as he thought about the delicious catered lunches Joe had delivered to school. "Not gonna happen."

"We could make puppets," Macy suggested. She put her hand inside the bag and held it up in front of her face. "That girl's an idiot," she said in a low gravelly voice. Putting her hand down, she turned and spoke to the bag. "I know! Kevin's amazing."

The bag agreed, "Exactly. But maybe he should be glad to escape from a silly girl who didn't fully appreciate him."

Kevin laughed, making Macy grin in return. "I agree. But what should we do to cheer him up, Mr. Bag?" She asked.

Macy once again put the bag in front of her face. "Maybe we should get him some Fruit Loops, Macy."

"Excellent idea, Mr. Bag." Macy looked at Kevin. "How about it, Mr. Lucas? Would you care to join Mr. Bag and me for some cartoons and Fruit Loops after school?"

Kevin shook his head looking concerned. "Don't you have practice?"

Macy shrugged. She did have basketball practice right after school, but she hadn't missed one in two seasons. She figured the coach would let her off this once. "It'd be okay if I just missed one."

"No, I don't want you to miss," Kevin insisted. "Besides, I'm actually feeling all better now."

"Really?" Macy asked hesitantly.

"Really. You and Mr. Bag there are a great team." Kevin said sincerely. Macy grinned, happy that she had been able to cheer him up. It had bothered her that he had helped her out several times, but she hadn't been able to do anything for him in return. "So you go to practice. The basketball coach is supposed to be really tough."

"Are you sure?" Macy asked, a little disappointed that he didn't want to spend time with her even though she knew he was trying to make sure she didn't get in trouble with her coach.

Kevin nodded and then said, "What are you doing after practice? Want to come make Mr. Bag a puppet friend?"

Macy's eyes sparkled with happiness and her smile lit up her face. He did want to spend time with her. "I'd love to! I think we can do a much better job than those creepy Fandango ads, don't you?"

"Definitely!" Kevin responded enthusiastically. They both sat on the step smiling at each other until the moment was broken by the warning bell.

"Oh, I'd better get to math!" Macy exclaimed. "I'm hanging on by a thread in there, so I can't afford to miss anything."

She leapt up off the step and started up the stairs. As she neared the top, she heard Kevin call, "Hey Macy?"

She leaned over the side and looked down at him. "Thanks," he said simply.

"Anytime, Kevin. I'll see you later!"

As Macy continued on her way to her math class, she hummed happily off-key. She was really looking forward to making puppets later with Kevin.

She froze.

She was going to the home of JONAS to make paper bag puppets. And she hadn't freaked out about it. This was huge. Seriously, a few months ago even the thought of entering the Lucas home would have been enough to make her pass out on the spot, but when Kevin invited her over JONAS hadn't even entered her mind. She was just excited about spending time with her friend Kevin from school.

A warm feeling of pride spread through her chest. She really had managed to change. At that moment, Payton walked passed her, and without thinking, Macy turned and banged her backpack into the older girl.

"Hey, watch it," the red-head snapped.

Macy made her eyes go wide in fake surprise. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm such a klutz."

"Whatever," the senior muttered as she walked away.

Macy grinned. Even the sound of the tardy bell ringing couldn't spoil her good mood because Kevin of JONAS had finally become less interesting, less important than Kevin from School.


	5. Arts and Crafts

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS or Scooby Doo._

_A/N: My poor beta is going to be totally confused because this isn't the chapter I sent her. I am going to use that one next. But angellwings read and reviewed all my JONAS and Camp Rock stories (all 40 of them) yesterday, and I offered to write something for her as a thank you. And she asked for a paper bag chapter for this story. So here it is. I hope you like it, angellwings; I really appreciated all your thoughtful, kind reviews!_

_Dedication: For angellwings!_

Macy and Kevin laughed as they came through the front door of the Lucas household, each of them holding a plastic bag from the craft store. Macy was dressed in Horace Mantis sweats and her thick hair was pulled back in a pony tail, still wet from her post-practice shower. Payton had long been forgotten, and they were both anxious to get to work on their puppets.

Macy stopped and smiled at Kevin's mom, "Hi Mrs. Lucas. How are you today?"

"Hello, Macy. I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She glanced at the bags that her son and his friend were holding. "What are you two up to?"

'We're going to make some puppets," Kevin replied as he looked around the living room. "Do you know where Frankie is, Mom?"

"Try his room," his mother replied. "Do you want a snack? I think I have some chocolate chip cookies around here."

Kevin had already grabbed a hold of Macy's hand and was dragging her towards his little brother's room. Ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, she called back over her shoulder, "That would be great, Mrs. Lucas. Thanks!"

They found Frankie sitting on a bean bag chair in the middle of his room staring intently at an episode of _Scooby Doo_. Kevin reached out and ruffled his brother's hair before asking, "Hey, Frankie, is it okay if we borrow some of your art supplies?"

Frankie didn't take his eyes off the screen as he replied. "Don't bother me. Watching _Scooby Doo_."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I'm going to take that as a yes, little man."

As Kevin and Macy exited the room, Macy turned and commented, "You're brother takes his _Scooby Doo_ very seriously, doesn't he?"

"Yup. He likes to solve the cases, and he says if we distract him, he might miss a clue."

Macy looked confused. "Are there actual clues in _Scooby Doo_? I thought they just ran around a lot."

Kevin shrugged, "That's what I thought too, but Frankie sees things in that show that the rest of us just don't get. And I respect his process."

"Fair enough," Macy replied. She followed Kevin to a closet where he pulled out glue, scissors, markers and a stack of paper bags. They headed back towards the kitchen area, spreading out all of their supplies across the counter. They each grabbed one of the cookies Mrs. Lucas had left for them before sitting down to begin.

"I think I'm going to bring Mr. Bag to life," Macy announced happily. She grabbed the glue and a package of googly eyes and started to work. At that moment Joe and Nick stumbled through the front door panting.

"Fan girls?" Kevin asked without looking up.

"Yeah," Nick sputtered out, as he bent over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. "We made the mistake of stopping at the ice cream parlor on the way home from Stella's. Never again!"

"Hey, Macy," Joe said as he walked into the room. She looked up from her project and waved. "What are you doing?"

"Making puppets," Kevin replied. He stuck his hand inside one of the bags and held it up to show his brothers.

Joe looked down at all their supplies before saying, "Do you really think it's a good idea to give her scissors?"

Kevin looked up and frowned, "Hey, that's not fair. She's a lot better now."

Joe looked skeptical. "I don't know, man. It's a pretty big risk. You need all ten fingers to play the guitar."

Macy kept her face down so the boys wouldn't see that her eyes were starting to water.

"Joe, she's right there." Nick scolded.

"I know," said Joe. "Didn't you hear me say hi?"

"Well then stop being a jerk." Nick said. "And apologize."

"Fine." Joe sulked. "Sorry Macy."

"It's okay," Macy mumbled. Kevin glanced at her and could tell that she wasn't really okay.

"Why don't you guys go somewhere else," Kevin said sharply to his brothers. He could tell that Joe was about to protest, but Nick gave Kevin an understanding look and shoved his brother towards the stairs. As soon his brothers were safely out of the way, Kevin put down his bag and headed over to Macy.

"Don't let Joe spoil everything, please. You and I know that you wouldn't hurt me with the scissors, so just ignore him."

Macy looked up and gave him a small smile, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "Are you really sure you trust me with sharp objects?"

Kevin looked her in the eyes and answered with confidence. "Absolutely. In fact, l'll take Frankie's safety scissors and you can have the big, sharp, grown up ones."

Macy's face lit up and she threw her arms around his neck without thinking. "Thank you," she whispered. She felt his arms go around her and heard him say, "No problem, Mace."

They stood there in the kitchen hugging for just a moment before Macy realized what she had just done; she pulled away with a slight pink tint to her cheeks. "So, we'd better get started on these puppets. They're not going to make themselves."

Kevin's eyes lit up. "Wouldn't that be cool if they did? And then maybe they would march around on little paper legs terrorizing Joe. That would be awesome!"

Macy shuttered at the thought. "Let's just stick to nice, peaceful, inadament puppets."

Macy and Kevin both set to work on their creations. Macy added pipe cleaner glasses, buttons and a tie and crazy yarn hair to her puppet. When she finally finished, she looked up to see how Kevin was coming along. He had just started to sprinkle glitter across a piece of paper.

"Glitter, huh?" Macy joked.

Kevin glanced up, a purple streak across his nose and piece of yellow yarn caught in his curly hair. Macy couldn't help but smile as she looked at him. She reached across the counter and pulled the yarn out of his hair.

He gave her a curious look until he noticed what was in her hand. "Oh, thanks."He said. "And there's nothing wrong with glitter."

He picked up the sparkly paper and glued it to the top of his puppet. He held up his masterpiece proudly. "See I made Mr. Bag a friend. It's his Paper Bag Princess."

Macy giggled and held up Mr. Bag. "It's very nice to meet you, Princess."

At that moment, Macy wasn't worrying about Joe or sharp objects or remembering to breath. She was totally happy sitting in the kitchen with Kevin, both of them covered in glue, playing with paper bags. She couldn't imagine anywhere else she would rather be.


	6. Return of the Bunnies

_Disclaimer: I don't own JONAS._

_A/N: This was the original chapter five. Special thanks to faerietaleredux for being an awesome beta (fixing my mistakes and encouraging me to keep writing and not delete the entire thing) and Loved-Invention (who is like having my own personal cheering section). Can you guess where he's taking her?_

Macy sat slumped at her desk, wondering what to do next. She hadn't posted anything on her JONAS fan site in weeks, which was odd considering she spend a good portion of her time with one or more members of the band. And that was the problem; now that she knew them as people and not just as her favorite band, she felt like she was betraying their trust if she put anything up on the site. She had even balked at posting their new tour dates, which everyone already knew about just because she saw them a day before they were released.

Kevin had recorded an acoustical version of her favorite song specially for her, and she hadn't even considered putting it on the site, even though that one song would have guaranteed her the title of top JONAS site on the web (and yes, she could admit that she was a little competitive; it was one of the things that made her so good at sports). Everything was different and a little confusing now.

She stared morosely at her outdated website, wondering if she should just take it down or hand it over to someone else. And then a message box popped up on her screen saying that "Kevinfromschool" was inviting her for a video chat. She clicked the accept button and a moment later, Kevin's smiling face filled her screen.

"Hey, Macy, what are you -" he began before stopping and blinking a few times. "Oh, wow," he finally blurted out. Macy couldn't imagine why he was reacting that way. Sure, she was in her pajamas, but…

All of a sudden Macy realized that she wasn't in her pajamas, she was in his pajamas, and her face turned a brilliant shade of crimson. She reached out for her mouse, wanting to end the chat and block out the memory of Kevin's stunned face. Sensing what she was about to do, he spoke up, "Don't go, Mace. It's okay."

Macy looked up at him, trying to figure out if he really meant it or if he thought she was creepy but was trying to be nice; to her relief his smile seemed to be completely natural.

"You actually look pretty cute in my bunny pajamas," Kevin joked.

Macy blushed again , "Are you sure you're not freaked out? You mentioned them on the cards, so I thought it would be okay, which was stupid of me, I know. But they're super comfy; I can't figure out why you would want to get rid of them."

"Macy, relax. I mean it; it's fine. I was just surprised, that's all. It probably would have been weirder if you were wearing Nick or Joe's pajamas."

Macy's face fell. "See, you do think it's weird. You know what, I'll just go take them off and put something else on." She pushed back her desk chair and began to get up.

"Wait! Please don't go. I didn't mean it like that," Kevin insisted, his face flushed. "I think it's cute that you're wearing them. Really."

Macy looked down at her keyboard. "I do have Joe and Nick's, but I've never worn them. I just wear your's" She admitted quietly, drawing circles on her desk with her fingers.

If she had been watching the screen at that moment, she would have seen Kevin grin happily at her admission.

Wanting to break the tension, he said, "I outgrew them."

She looked up, confused, before realizing he was responding to her earlier comment. "Oh. I guess that make sense," she replied. "They really are comfortable."

"You know what? I have a green pair with rubber duckies on them that are probably too small by now. Do you want them?" He asked hesitantly.

"Really?" She asked with matching uncertainty. She saw him nod and smiled at him. "How about we make sort of a trade? I'll happily accept your ducky pjs and take your brothers' jammies back to my mom's store."

Kevin smiled back. "That sounds good."

The two of them just sat smiling at each other, until Macy asked, "Did you just want to chat or did you need something?"

"Well," he said. "I always like to chat, but I did have a reason for calling. First, Mr. Bag wanted to say hi." He held up a paper bag puppet with pipe cleaner eye glasses and a paper tie and lowered his voice before saying, "Hi Macy. You look fetching in those stylish pajamas."

Macy giggled. "Why thank you, Mr. Bag. You look quite handsome yourself." She reached across her desk and picked up the Princess puppet Kevin had made her. In a high, sweet voice she said, "Hello Kevin and Mr. Bag."

"Look, Mr. Bag, it's the lovely Paper Bag Princess. Didn't you want to ask her something?"

Kevin turned the puppet so it looked like it was speaking to him. "Why yes, Kevin. Thank you for reminding me." Turning the puppet back towards the screen, he asked, "Princess, do you think that Macy would like to accompany Kevin on an outing tomorrow?"

"I'm sure she would love to, Mr. Bag. Let me ask her." Macy looked down and the puppet before saying, "Macy, are you free tomorrow for an outing with the Mr. Lucas?"

Macy pursed her lips and pretended to think about it. "I don't know, Princess. I was planning on washing my hair tomorrow."

"Hey," Kevin whined. "That's not nice."

"I'm kidding. Of course I want to go," Macy said. "What exactly am I agreeing to, anyway?"

"It's a surprise," Kevin announced.

Macy looked skeptical. "So you haven't figured it out yet?"

Kevin looked offended. "No, I have a plan. And it's a brilliant plan, by the way. And now I'm defiantly not telling you what it is."

"Okay."

"Wait? Aren't you going to try and talk me into telling you?"

Macy laughed and shook her head. "Nope. If you want to surprise me, then I'll just wait until tomorrow to find out."

Kevin frowned, a little disappointed that she hadn't tried to get him to spill his secret. "It's really good."

"I can't wait to find out what it is. When should I be ready?"

Kevin thought for a moment. "How about nine? And dress casual."

"Sounds good. I'll plan on seeing you at nine then. Goodnight."

Kevin smiled gently at her. "Night Macy. Sweet dreams."

She blushed a little before admitting, "I always have sweet dreams when I wear the bunny pajamas."


	7. Take Me Out to the Ball Game

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS or the New York Yankees._

_A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I really appreciate all the support. Special thanks to __faerietaleredux__, beta extraordinaire!_

_Dedication: To my untold fairy-tale, LittleRedOne, and RebelRebel27 for their excellent guessing._

Macy sat in her seat bouncing with excitement. "I can't believe you brought me to a Yankees' game!" She craned her head to see as much of the stadium as possible. "And these seats are amazing! I swear I'm going to be able to see the catchers' signals from here. Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. I told you it was really good."

"Really good? This is way beyond really good! I never even imagined getting to sit this close. Do you think we'll catch a foul ball?"

Kevin smiled at Macy's enthusiasm. "Maybe."

"Oh, look, they're starting the National Anthem." Macy scrambled to her feet and placed her right hand over her heart. "I wonder who's singing today. Whoever it is, they couldn't be as good as JONAS," the fan in her declared loyally.

As the announcer introduced someone neither of them had ever heard of, Kevin moved closer to Macy and slipped his arm around her waist. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Promise you'll keep breathing, okay?"

Macy just nodded, his proximity and the warmth of his breath on her ear already making her feel a little lightheaded. Then, as the music began to play, she heard him start to sing quietly so only she could hear.

He was singing the National Anthem to her.

She was pretty sure this had to be a dream because there was no way this was really happening. She closed her eyes and tried to memorize every detail – the sound of his voice, the feel of his arm around her, the smell of his aftershave. Everything was perfect.

Perfect.

Her eyes flew open as she realized what he was doing. As the last note hung in the air and the crowd cheered the singer who she honestly hadn't heard at all, Macy threw her arms around Kevin's neck. "The cards. You remembered!"

He chuckled and she could feel his chest rumbling against her cheek. "Of course I did."

It was her perfect date, except it wasn't a date; it was two friends going to a ballgame. She tried not to think about how much she wished it was a date – that he thought of her that way; she was lucky enough to be Kevin's friend, and that was more than she had ever expected. She needed to keep that in mind and not let her silly fantasies get in the way.

Pulling back, she smiled and said, "Being here with you is even better than being on a date."

She knew that she had done something wrong when she saw his face fall. "I…I thought this was a date," he muttered, his face ashen.

"What?" She blurted out, inhaling short, shallow spurts of air. Where was that paper bag when she needed it? Reaching behind her, she groped for the back of her seat.

"Are you okay, Macy? Here sit down!"

She collapsed backwards, aware of the worry in his voice.

"Put your head between your knees and just breathe." As she leaned forward, she could feel him rubbing gentle circles on her back. After regaining control, she sat back up and took a deep, shuttering breath.

"Wow," Kevin finally said, running his hand through his curls. "I thought you were past those fan girl moments."

Macy stared at him in disbelief. "That wasn't a fan girl moment."

"It wasn't?"

She shook her head. "Nope. That was a 'cute guy from school who I really like just asked me out' moment. Totally different."

"Really? A cute guy from your school?" A smile lit up his entire face.

"Yup. And I never thought he would notice me; I thought we were just going to be friends, so he caught me by surprise."

He reached out and stroked her cheek. "Oh, he noticed you alright. In fact you're pretty much the only thing he's thought about since you gave him those cards."

Macy's heart pounded in her chest as she looked at him with wide shining eyes. "But I thought you wanted me to be your buddy, your Stella."

Kevin laughed, "Haven't you ever watched the two of them? They're perfect together; they totally like each other."

"But they've never said anything. They're not secretly dating, are they?"

"Nope. Joe's too scared and too stupid to make a move. I wasn't about to make that mistake. I'd rather spend weeks planning something and then forget to let the girl know it's a date."

Macy leaned into him, placing her head against his chest. "She knows now; that's all that matters. So how about we enjoy the game and forget the hyperventilating and misunderstanding?"

"Sounds good." He moved his arm around her shoulder and relaxed back into his seat to watch the game.

As Macy watched the first batter approach the plate, she remembered something. "Hey Kevin? How serious were you about that only kissing on the cheek on the first date thing?"

"I'm pretty sure I'll be making an exception today," his voice filled with amusement as he answered her. "But not right here. I don't want our first kiss up on some website tonight."

"Fair enough."

Macy watched the batter hit a line drive straight to the third baseman. "Did you know you can listen to the Yankees on the radio? In the car. On the way home. Where no one has a camera."

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Just enjoy the game, Mace."

"Fine," she grumbled. "It was worth a try."


	8. Driving Home

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS._

_A/N: So the previous chapter was supposed to be the last one, but there seemed to be a general consensus that I needed one more to include the kiss. So here it is. This is the end. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed; I was overwhelmed by your response and apologize if this chapter isn't as strong (I had everything all planned out up to the game but had no idea what to do past that point)._

_Dedication: The overall story was for __faerietaleredux__, but this chapter is for __MrsMorrisonCobain__ (who suggested the fabulous idea of having Kevin notice Macy wasn't updating her website). _

Macy had eventually been able to relax and just enjoy the game, although the thought of kissing Kevin had crossed her mind every few seconds or so. And now she still had to wait through the entire car ride home, hoping that he wouldn't be able to tell that she wasn't very experienced in that area. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that the sound of his voice startled her.

"So why haven't you updated your website recently?" Kevin asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

Macy sighed, "I don't know. It's complicated. I just… Wait? How did you know that?"

"Cause I check it every once in awhile."

"You check your fan sites?" She asked incredulously.

"No. I check your fan site."

Macy flushed, pleased at his admission. "Oh."

"It's been very informative," he teased. "I've learned that you prefer my hair curly and that I look, I think the word was 'yummy', in blue."

"Kill me now," she muttered, placing her hands over her face. She had thought that having him catch her wearing his pajamas was the most embarrassing thing that could ever happen to her; she was wrong.

She felt him squeeze her knee gently. "I'm sorry. I was just teasing. I know you posted that before we came to Horace Mantis."

"That's sort of the reason I stopped posting," she mumbled through her hands.

"I can't understand you when you talk like that."

"Fine." She put her hands back in her lap. "I haven't been updating because there is just something wrong about posting news online about your friends." She shrugged before adding, "And I didn't want to betray your trust."

Kevin groaned.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

"No!"

"Well why did you groan then?" Macy asked.

"Cause you have no idea what it does to me when you say stuff like that."

"What does it do to you?" Macy teased.

"It makes me want to pull over and kiss you right here on the side of the Turnpike."

Macy gulped, but before she could say anything, Kevin's phone rang.

"It's Nick. Do you mind?"`

Macy shook her head.

"Hey, what's up?" Kevin answered brightly.

"Is there something you want to share with us?" Joe asked accusingly.

"Uhm…no?" Kevin said slowly, sounding confused. "Is this about me putting my name on the Fruit Loops box? Cause you can have some; I just wanted the prize at the bottom."

Macy could hear Nick sigh. "This isn't about cereal. This is about photos on the web of you and Macy at the game."

"Photos of you with your arm around her kissing her head," Joe added. "Anything you want to tell us about that?"

"Not really. I kissed Macy on the head." Kevin said, obviously baffled by his brother's question.

"Yeah, we know, Kev. We saw the pictures. But you know better than that; you can't just hang all over some girl in public. What you were thinking?" Nick asked sharply.

Macy winced, hoping that they didn't realize that they were on speaker phone. She wasn't sure if they had a problem with her specifically or if it was because he had been showing affection in public, but either way their tone did not go over well with Kevin, who was clenching the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"I was thinking that my girlfriend's adorable."

Macy's eye went wide and she gasped involuntarily. They hadn't even finished their first date, and he was calling her his girlfriend?

"Wait, is that okay? To call you my girlfriend?" Kevin asked.

Macy, rendered speechless by his question, could only nod.

"Hold on, are you driving?" Nick asked suspiciously.

"Yup."

"Crap. We're on speaker phone, aren't we?"

"Yup."

There was a long pause before Nick finally spoke again, "Hi Macy."

"Hi Nick," she chirped.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks," she replied cheekily.

After another long silence, Kevin finally said, "We're hanging up now."

After ending the call, he apologized, "I'm so sorry about that."

"It's okay. I'm not upset," Macy replied. And surprisingly she wasn't; the idea of being Kevin's girlfriend was so unbelievable, so wonderful, that nothing could upset her right then.

"And I'm sorry about the photos," he added. "I guess I didn't do such a great job planning our first date."

"Don't you dare say that! It was absolutely perfect. So what if a few people took some photographs? I refuse to let that spoil the day." She gave him a pleading look, "Can't you just remember how much fun we had?"

He reached out and squeezed her hand. "I can do that."

Once again, the moment was broken by the ringing of his phone. He sighed when he saw who was calling.

"It's Nick. Again."

Macy smiled. "You should answer it."

"Do I have to?"

"No, but you probably should anyway."

He grumbled a little but finally picked up. "What do you want now?"

"Hi Kevin," Nick said a little too cheerfully. "We just saw some photos of you and Macy at the game. It looked like you had a great time!"

Kevin looked over at Macy and rolled his eyes, while she giggled at his brother's obvious attempt to smooth over the earlier mishap.

"Have we mentioned recently how much we like Macy?" Nick asked, trying to sound casual.

"No, I don't think you have," Kevin replied dryly.

"Well we do. She's cool, and you two really seem to have fun together."

"Plus, she's hot," Joe piped up.

Macy could hear shuffling in the background, followed by a thud and someone exclaiming indignantly, "Ouch! What was that for? You told me to be nice. That was nice."

"Guys," Kevin interrupted. "How about you continue this lame apology later? We're sort of trying to finish our date here."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Nick said. "We'll see you when you get home?"

"We'll definitely be talking when I get home," Kevin replied with an edge to his voice.

Nick's voice sounded a little higher than usual as he said goodbye.

The rest of the car ride past uneventfully, and soon they were pulling up in front of Macy's house. Kevin got out of the car and opened her door for her, following her up the driveway to the front porch. After Macy let them in, they both stood awkwardly in the entryway. They had been waiting all day for this moment, but now that it was here, neither of them seemed to know what to do.

"Uhm, do you want to come in and sit down?" Macy asked nervously.

He glanced down at his watch before answering with regret, "I probably shouldn't; I told my mom I'd be home soon."

"Oh."

"That reminds me – I have something for you. Wait here."

Kevin opened the door and sprinted down the walkway, returning with a plastic bag in his hand. Once the front door was safely closed behind him, he handed it to her. She gave him a quizzical look; peaking inside the bag, she found a pair of green pajamas covered with little yellow ducks.

Squealing, she dropped the bag and threw he arms around his neck. "You're the best! Did you know that?" She exclaimed as his arms went around her waist.

She pulled back a little to look up at him, his arms still around her. Somehow, in just that brief moment, everything had changed; the awkwardness was gone and the air between them seemed charged. Her breathing sped up slightly as he slowly leaned forward and brushed his warm, dry lips against hers. Moving her hands from around his neck into the delightful curls resting on his neck, she deepened the kiss.

And when they separated, this time it was Kevin who had trouble breathing.


End file.
